My Mentor's Better Than Yours
by SneverusSnapers
Summary: Juniper Hurling and Zen Strike; two tributes who just never were going to get on. So when, just before their games, they meet when doing some decisive training, the fight that ensues is mandatory to them. One-shot. Humor/Angst.


**A/N: I thought I'd write this, it was inspired by something random I wrote on my profile. You don't _have_ to review at the end, but I'd love it if you did.**

**Disclaimer: Suzanne Collins owns the hunger games, but I own all of the characters mentioned in this short one-shot.**

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><p><span>My Mentor's Better Than Yours<span>

"What are _you_ doing here?" a rather malicious voice called in evident distaste at the fourteen year-old boy standing in front of her, sandy blonde hair, hopeless green eyes and a rather pitiful looking bodily structure.

"I could say the same," replied the boy, eyeing the brown-haired girl with evident distaste. At exactly the same time, after a miniscule pause, they recite each other's names in hatred.

"Zen Strike."

"Juniper Hurling."

Both of the names were spit out with the same maliciousness as would a viper do to its venom, the actual hate hanging densely in the air around them was thick like fog, seeming to envelope the whole room.

"This is training, even if it is on the morning before the games, so you both don't have to be here. So you should try to get on with each other of you want to stay," piped up a little squeaky voice.

"Angel, isn't it? Stay out of this," growled Zen in a deep and menacing voice, glaring angrily at the tiny district twelve girl in front of him.

"Oh, okay," she shuddered under his hostile glare and stumbles off to the next station.

Juniper and Zen eventually managed to pry their eyes off the other one, brimming with hatred, and turn to the station in front of them; the same station the other one had decided to come to.

"Well I'm not moving!" Juniper said snappily, seizing the knife in front of her and tossing it at the target in front of her where it narrowly missed.

"Neither am I!" Zen counteracted, tossing a knife at the target and letting off a snide smile at her as it hit the wooden edge of the target.

"That doesn't count as a point though, you technically didn't hit it!" Juniper snapped at Zen's smug look.

"I got it closer than you would have done," retorted Zen grumpily, seizing another knife and tossing it at the target, but only having it end up at least half a metre to the left, almost hitting the target next to the one they were aiming at.

"What's that?" sneered Juniper, "even your stupid mentor could have done better than you!"

"Kara's not stupid!" replied Zen angrily, fists clenched and jaw gritted, "she's the best knife thrower in the whole of district eight!"

"Well that doesn't amount to very much, does it?" taunted Juniper, throwing a knife at the target and grinning stupidly as it actually hit it, scoring on the outer ring. Zen's face actually turned a rare shade of burgundy at this remark.

"She's much better than your mentor anyway, that bloodhound!"

"Gloria doesn't lie all of the time, she speaks the truth!" snapped Juniper defensively.

"So does Kara," Zen said, his voice phasing off a little at the end.

"What do you mean, 'so does Kara'?" sneered Juniper, "Kara's the biggest liar that's ever existed."

"In her hunger games-" started Zen.

"What would you know about her hunger games?" shrieked Juniper icily, "what would a scrawny good-for-nothing district eight mutt like you know about_ those_ hunger games?"

Zen couldn't find an answer to that, knowing all about Juniper's little speech she had done at the end of her interview, so he pulled out another knife and launched it at the target in frustration, it somehow finding its way to bulls-eye. With an overjoyed look on his face he turned to Juniper and raised an eyebrow cockily so to say 'bring it on'.

"That was pre-games luck, and anyway, you had your toe past the line!" hissed Juniper at Zen, who, examining the toe, swivelled his face and killer glare around to Juniper; giving her his most penetrating evils he could muster.

"This is my training; I make the rules here. You're just here to hindrance me, so why don't you shove off and do us both a favour?" Zen growled, his voice becoming gravely and full of anger alongside hatred.

"Oh yeah, well you look like you've just been dragged out of a fishing net!"

"Well you smell worse than the dirty laundry in our district!"

"Your eyes look like the insides of a dead fish!"

"_You_ look like the inside of a dead fish."

"Well..."

"Well..."

"MY MENTOR'S BETTER THAN YOURS!" they simultaneously shouted at the other, causing Angel, the only other tribute there, to flinch and hurriedly dash out of the room. Their eyes locked with anger and they glared each other down, full of hatred, knowing full well that they couldn't fight until the games started, but also knowing that once they did they wouldn't be showing any mercy whatsoever.

"Just you wait until the games..." Zen and Juniper growled.

"I'll shove your face under water and drown you," Juniper hissed.

"I'll throw you off a cliff with a noose attached to your neck," retorted Zen.

"I'll force feed you water until you drown from the inside," Juniper fantasised.

"I'll tie you up until your blood stops circulating," Zen growled.

"I'll dislocate every bone in your body and then toss you into a lake!"" shrieked Juniper, a contented smile on her lips, as if challenging Zen to come up with a worse death than that.

"I'll hang you upside-down until the blood rushes to your head and you die in total agony!" Zen shouted heatedly, pelting a knife at the target so hard that it ripped through the wood and flopped to the floor on the other side, having torn a perfect hole through it.

"That was a fluke," Juniper stuttered in awe, trying to hide it though.

"Oh yeah?" asked Zen cockily.

"Oh yeah!" exclaimed Juniper, smirking smugly.

"Well then, it only comes down to one thing then, doesn't it?" Zen stated, glaring at Juniper sharply.

"What's that?" Juniper asked, raising an eyebrow but showing signs of real curiosity.

"My mentor's better than yours!"

"!"

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><p><strong>AN: These two tributes are Zen and Juniper from my story 'Shattered Hearts', which is a sequel to 'Gnawing Hunger'. I fantasised this short comical argument between them and thought it would actually be pretty cute to write. Of course, you don't have to know the characters to read this, though I suppose it might have been nice. When I brought up with myself the relationship Juniper and Zen would have it hit me as a funny one, and not exactly very nice. The thing is, Juniper despises Kara and Zen is the opposite, he really likes her; so then I thought that would be a perfect grounds for an argument. I couldn't contain myself when I thought of writing this, so went right away to write it. There are hints to point about who they are and their background, but not everything is said, I don't think I could explain it in something this size anyway. If you want to find out about Juniper's hate for Kara I'm afraid you'll have to read 'Gnawing Hunger' and then 'Shattered Hearts' to understand, and why Zen _couldn't _retort to Juniper telling him that he knew nothing about those games. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it and while you don't have to review I would be deeply touched if you were to take the time to do so. Thank you, and whilst it's not my best I rather like it,**

**~SneverusSnapers**


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